Induced delusion of having syphilis in the two members of a family from the elder sister who had no past history of psychiatric illness. Early diagnosis, antipsychotics and physical separation showed marked improvement within 2 months. The psychopathology and socio demographic variables showed marked variation from earlier concepts regarding the shared delusional disorder (SDD).

The challenge for the person of the therapist in the work with disadvantaged familiesHarry J Aponte, Nina Anne MéndezOctober-December 2014, 1(1):2-9

Socially disadvantaged families present special challenges to therapists. Within the families themselves the family relationships are often underorganized, that is lacking in firm structure and functional coherence. They also live in social circumstances that are not only unsupportive, but also actively destructive. The families struggle to cope with life's challenges, and may be guarded and untrusting of professionals who, while wanting to help, may appear to the families as intrusive and insensitive to a family's plight. This article identifies six basic therapeutic tasks that the authors believe essential to work with socially disadvantaged families. It also introduces a particular approach, The Person-of-the- Therapist Model, to therapists' use of themselves in the work with these families. It emphasizes therapists relating and working through their own life experiences, especially their personal vulnerabilities, as a medium through their own life experiences, especially their personal vulnerabilities, as a medium through to relate to the pain and brokenness of these emotionally and socially vulnerable families.

Background : Optimal stress brings out a student's best; however, extremes of stress can result in stress-induced disorders and deteriorating performance. Yoga is known to bring positive effect on personality development in students. Can yoga be beneficial in enhancing orderliness of brain functioning leading to increased academic performance in university students? Objective : To assess immediate effect of Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama (NSP), Bhramari Pranayama (BP), Om Meditation (OM), Pranic Energization Technique (PET), and Mind Sound Resonance Technique (MSRT) on brain wave coherence (BWC) in university students. Materials andMethods: Two hundred and thirty-four students in the range of 18-30 years of age and 21.63 ± 3.60 (mean ± SD) years of mean age were selected for the present study from a university at Bangalore, India. They were divided in two groups, 117 subjects in each group: yoga group (NSP = 15, BP = 30, OM = 29, PET = 27, and MSRT = 16) and control group (NSP = 15, BP = 30, OM = 29, PET = 27, and MSRT = 16). Brain wave coherence (BWC) data were collected immediately before and after the intervention (pre recorded session of 24 minutes in NSP, BP, OM, PET and MSRT to yoga group and sitting quietly with the eyes closed for the same duration in control group) using Brain Master 2 Channel EEG version 2.0 for clinical from Bio Medical Instruments, Inc., Warren, Michigan, USA. Results: The significant increase in delta was observed in BP, OM, PET, and MSRT. Similarly, significant increase in theta was also observed in BP and PET. Moreover, significant increase in alpha was found in BP and OM whereas significant increase in beta was noted in BP. It was also recorded that there was significant increase in gamma in NSP, BP and MSRT. There was no significant change observed in control group of yogic practices. Conclusion: The immediate effect NSP, BP, OM, PET, and MSRT on BWC compared with controls shows that these yogic practices are related with increased orderliness of brain functioning, which is essential for good academic performance. Additional well-designed studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made.

Aim: Stress has become an inevitable part of our daily life. Adolescence can be considered one such stage in our life where we experience various stressors. Globally, studies have reported the adolescent stress levels range from 20% to 45%. The objective of this literature review was to identify the common determinants of stress and coping strategies among mid aged adolescents by reviewing observational studies published between the years 2003 and 2013. Methodology: Academic databases including PubMed, PsychInfo, EMBASE, Biomedcentral, and Science Direct were included for the search. STROBE checklist was used to assess the quality of the studies and data extraction. Result: A total of 12 studies were selected for the review for the study design; sample and population; settings; tools used; objectives and the results of the study. Based on our review, it could be reported that adolescents were more concerned about the socioeconomic status of parents, financial conditions, and academic life. The most common coping strategies used by adolescent boys are distraction and relaxation. Contrasting these features, the girls use more avoidance coping, more willing to seek support, resolving conflicts, and the always openly express their emotions. With comparison to boys, girls are kept under a strict supervision and given much less freedom which makes them prone to be more stressed. Conclusion: Focus should be directed to the mental health issues faced by adolescents. Studies addressing the prevalence of stress and interventions to counter the same must be conducted. Both adolescent boys and girls seem to be affected by stress in some way or the other. Supportive care from parents, teachers and health professionals is the need of the hour.

Context : The prescribing of exercise by physicians has become a popular practice, yet the effectiveness of exercise on symptoms of depression is difficult to determine due to a lack of randomized controlled trials with clinical populations. Reports also indicate that only a small percentage of physicians advise their patients regarding exercise and confusion still exists as to how much and what types are best. Aims: To understand the mechanisms that make exercise a viable treatment in depression. Settings and Design: This study employed a six-week, two group, single-level trial, pre- and posttest design using self-report of symptoms, blood levels of serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and frontal slow wave EEG activity as markers. This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov. ID# NCT02023281. Subjects and Methods: Eleven participants with a diagnosis of depression between the ages of 18 and 65 were enrolled from March 2013 through May 2013. Baseline and post-intervention measures consisted of the Beck Depression Inventory-II, blood serum levels of serotonin, catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine), and mean alpha frequency. Statistical Analysis Used: A series of independent t-tests for each dependent variable was conducted. Results: Independent t-tests reveal significant between-group differences in depression scores (P = 0.005, d = 2.23); F7 activity (P = 0.012, d = 1.92); and F8 activity (P = 0.04, d = 1.52). Conclusions: The results of this pilot study show that even mild to very moderate levels of exercise 2-3 times per week consisting of alternating days of aerobic and strength resistance training can be effective in reducing symptoms of depression giving physicians concrete information for their patients on the prescription of exercise.

Since academic self-efficacy is a cognitive process that has a strong impact on individuals' choices, quality education should be an effective strategy to help promote students' self-efficacy. The research reported in this paper investigates the effectiveness of quality education based on Glasser's choice theory on the student' self-efficacy. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre- and post-test design with the control group. The community of statistical consists of the whole students from the third grade of the primary school of Kashan city, Iran. The children's Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy subscale from the Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale was used. The inputs were analyzed by ANCOVA test. The outcomes indicated that training of Glasser's choice theory concepts in group sessions had a significant impact on increasing the self-efficacy of students. Data indicate the majority of the students involved in this study felt more confident about their disciplinary skills, attendance improved, and they felt more confident about their ability to develop their own proactive discipline program.

Investigation of relationship between metacognitive strategies and self-concept with social compatibility of high school student in the city of KarajHamid Kamarzarin, Monirosadat HosseiniJuly-September 2015, 2(3):66-70DOI:10.4103/2395-2555.190470

The present research was aimed at investigating the relationship between metacognitive strategies and self-concept with social compatibility of high school student in the city of Karaj. The statistical population of the study included all male and female high school students of the city of Karaj in the educational year of 2014-2015. The sample size was 100 people selected through simple random method. Tools for collecting data included the metacognitive test (MSLQ) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Wilson self-concept, and the California personality assessment. The research falls under the correlation research. Results from the analysis of data implicated that there was a meaningful relationship between social compatibility and self-concept while no such meaningful relation did exist between social compatibility and metacognitive strategies. Meantime, self-concept was the only factor that was capable to predict social compatibility, whereas metacognitive strategies were not predicting social compatibility.

The effects of a teaching program targeting decoding and spelling with 7-8-year-old International School studentsGeorgina GaborJuly-September 2015, 2(3):71-78DOI:10.4103/2395-2555.190471

Aim: The present study investigated the effects and temporal sustainability of the gains of skill-based decoding and spelling instruction (n = 33) with 7-8-year-old students in an International School. MaterialsandMethods: The 12-week long program with 2 × 40 min sessions per week was repeated twice within one academic year. G1 (n = 11) received training in the first, G2 (n = 11) in the second semester. G3 (n = 11), who did not receive any additional training to their mainstream curriculum, served as a second control group. Results: The findings suggest that direct instruction of decoding appears to be efficient, moreover, appears to have an indirect effect on sentence comprehension. Some independence was observed between decoding and spelling skills in the students' response to training. Second posttests 4 months after the training stopped revealed stable gain on all three variables of decoding, spelling, and sentence comprehension with G1. Conclusion: The study concludes that explicit, focused instruction of decoding and spelling in a small group setting has undeniable benefits.

Background and Objectives: Studies have shown that people with schizophrenia die prematurely. Antipsychotic medications and clients' lifestyle seem to be the contributing factors to excess morbidity and mortality in these clients. The objective of this study was to investigate different lifestyle parameters, diet, body mass index, smoking, and unemployment, among schizophrenic clients in Palestine. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2011 and February 2012 at the governmental primary psychiatric health care centers in Northern West Bank, Palestine. Two hundred and fifty clients were selected by a convenience sampling method and different lifestyle parameters were measured among the selected clients. Results : Regression analysis showed that smoking, obesity, and unemployment were significantly high among schizophrenia clients with the majority of clients having unhealthy lifestyles. Conclusion: The compromised health conditions of schizophrenic clients could be due to poor nutritional status and unhealthy lifestyle. These findings suggest that schizophrenic clients need nutritional follow-up as well as coaching to help them improve their lifestyle.

Background: It is estimated that 5-10% of Pakistani population is suffering from thyroid disorders. Depression and anxiety are two very common symptoms of hyperthyroidism and patients with these symptoms are often misdiagnosed as having any psychiatric disease. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety among hyperthyroid patients in our population of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted in which 200 patients visiting the outpatient department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan, were inducted. Patients were classified as hyperthyroid and euthyroid. Convenient sampling technique was used. Data collection tool was a questionnaire in which sociodemographic questions and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale were included. Logistic regression was used to determine the association of depression and anxiety with sociodemographic factors among hyperthyroid patients. Odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI) and P values were calculated. Results: Depression and anxiety among hyperthyroid patients were found to be 84% and 58%, respectively. In multivariate analysis for hyperthyroid patients, age group of 18-40 years and females were more than two times (OR = 2.716, CI = 0.886-8.332), (OR = 2.587, CI = 0.827-8.095) depressed, compared to age group of 41-60 years and males, respectively, after adjusting for covariates. Similarly, females were found to have anxiety more than one times (OR = 1.771, CI = 0.720-4.356) compared to males while age group of 18-40 years was 30.5% (OR = 0.695, CI = 0.286-1.689) less likely to have anxiety compared to age group of 41-60 years. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that depression and anxiety are a common finding among hyperthyroid patients. Therefore, hyperthyroidism should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients who present primarily with neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Objective: To identify and compare the awareness of emotional wellness (EW) in Private and Public Sector Medical University (MU) students of Pakistan. Materials and Methods: Qualitative and quantitative aspects of EW were evaluated by; a structured questionnaire tailored from wellness wheel by four points Likert's scale; score ranging from 0 to 3. Comparison of scores in Private and Public MU students was done by Mann–Whitney test. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 20 students from each MU after taking the informed consent, a week after the questionnaires were administered. Results: The aggregate of EW scores was 21.36 ± 4.54 versus 20.54 ± 4.34 in Public versus Private MU students (P = 0.028). Private MU students were; significantly less cheerful and hopeful (P = 0.008), considered not always valued by their family and friends (P < 0.0001) as compared to Public MU candidates. Private students lived life autonomously and did not consider to consult or take help from parents or any other family members (P = 0.0003). They however consulted psychologist/psychiatrist more than Public MU students (P = 0.024). Both type of students nearby significantly helped people during emotional outbursts (P = 0.096). The results of FGDs highlighted the absence of formal advising, mentoring process, wellness organizations, and facilities available to cope with the emotional distress of medical students. Conclusion: Public MU students had sound emotional well-being and took help only from their family members rather than consultation with psychiatrists. The EW being an important indicator of mental health thus needs to be catered at the undergraduate level.

'Mindfulness' is an essential element of Buddhist meditative practices. It is paying attention to the present moment and to what we experience. Hypnosis is a state of a state of increased suggestibility with constriction of peripheral awareness and increased focal concentration on task at hand. Thus there are many similarities between hypnosis and mindfulness and they are, many a times, complementary. This review article focuses on the applications and evidences for using mindfulness- based hypnotherapy in the management of psychological disorders.

Prevalence of personality disorders symptoms among male high school students in Isfahan, IranAsghar Aghaei, Mohsen GolparvarOctober-December 2014, 1(1):22-29

Introduction: This research was conducted to examine the prevalence and variety of different personality disorders (paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive) among high school boys in Isfahan (Iran). Materials and Methods: Total 375 subjects were randomly selected from 46,340 high school boy students as the sample group. Multi-stage sampling was used. Individual − family characteristics' questionnaire and structured interview on the basis of the checklist of personality disorder symptoms as mentioned in DSM-IV were administered to them. The face validity of the checklist was verified. Concurrent validity was also assigned by examining the correlation patterns between the checklist and MCMI-II; correlation coefficient was equal to 0.3 to 0.6 for 10 personality disorders. The reliability of the checklist, which was determined by using the test-retest method with an interval of four weeks, was 0.63 to 0.8. The primary 10 questions concern the prevalence of personality disorders such as paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent and obsessive-compulsive among high school boy students in Isfahan. Result: Data analysis revealed the following results: paranoid, 5.9 percent; schizoid, 6.7 percent; schizotypal, 1.3 percent; antisocial, 6.9 percent; borderline, 8 percent; histrionic, 6.4 percent; narcissistic, 6.1 percent; dependent, 4 percent and obsessive-compulsive, 9.9 percent. Discussion and Conclusions: It is suggested that according to the self-reporting done by the students concerning the existence of personality disorder symptoms presented in DSM-IV, families and school consultants should be trained so that they can identify and evaluate the personality disorder symptoms. It is also suggested that a longitudinal study must be conducted to determine the stability and reliability of the symptoms.

Context: The present study is about computer assisted learning (CAI) and how it facilitates early math learning in 4-6-year-old children. Aim: Trying to demonstrate how changes in estimation accuracy are a result of different behavioral or action organizations during playing with a numerical board game on a tablet PC. Settings and Design: A pre-posttest design and a training intervention was used. Statistical Analysis Used: In order to measure childrens' estimation accuracy (N = 179), the percent absolute error scores were calculated and compared in a pretest and a posttest. Further, each child's best fitting linear function (R΂lin) was computed in order to find out whether children handled numbers in a linear way. Materials and Methods: A number line estimation task with a 0-10 interval was used in both the pretest and the posttest. For the intervention training, each child received a tablet computer and could play on a digital number line for four 15-min sessions. Children's hand and finger movements were manipulated during instruction in different conditions: Freely jumping or pointing. Results : Children's estimation accuracy increased after playing with the digital number line. However, the way in which behavior was organized during the training period resulted in different accuracy performances. Conclusions: These results show that minor changes in the behavioral system can lead to significantly different learning gains and that numerical knowledge is embodied in the system the child mobilizes.

Background: Antidepressant drugs, though of great benefit in a range of psychiatric disorders, are associated with a wide range of potential adverse effects. There is growing concern among the healthcare personnel to assess these adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of newer psychotropic drugs, which have an impact on long-term compliance and achieving successful treatment. The present study was thus designed to monitor and analyze the pattern of occurrence of ADRs to antidepressant medications in Outpatient Department (OPD) of a tertiary-care hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational clinical study was carried out in the OPD of Psychiatry in Medical College, Kolkata. A total of 190 patients who received antidepressants were studied. 5-8 consecutive previously diagnosed depression patients attending follow-up per day, were screened for suspected ADRs, 2 days (one male OPD and one female OPD) in a week, over 6 months (October 2013 to March 2014). Adverse event history, medication history and other relevant details were captured in a format as adopted in the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI). Causality of ADR was assessed by Naranjo's ADR probability scale. The severity of each reported ADR was assessed using Hartwig and Siegel Scale. All the statistical analysis was done by using SPSS-version 20 (SPSS Inc). Results: A total of 190 patients were screened for the study of which males and females represented 43.68% and 56.31% of the cases respectively. The age-group presenting with maximum depressive problems was found to be 30-39 years. A total of 481 ADRs were noted of which dry mouth was the commonest, closely followed by nausea and tremor. Out of 130 ADRs assessed for causality, 89.23% of the ADR cases, were found to be 'probable', while 10.77% were found to be 'possible'. According to Hartwig and Siegel's Scale 83.99% of the cases were found to be mild, 14.97% moderate and 1.04% severe. Conclusion: The study enables to obtain information on the incidence and pattern of adverse drug reactions associated with antidepressants in the local population thereby reducing its occurrence and protecting the user population from avoidable harm.

A reflection on literature of children in the curriculum of elementary schools of Iran by using Eisner's expertise-critical modelZohreh HamzehlouApril-June 2015, 2(2):31-35DOI:10.4103/2395-2555.170721

The purpose of this article is to reflect on literature of children in the curriculum of elementary schools of Iran using Eisner's expertise-critical model. In this study, the evaluation of expertise-critical is talked about, and it is suggested that this evaluation be used which is in direction of applying the feature of literature of children in elementary schools. This study applies Eisner's expertise-critical method in education using a review-analysis method. The findings show that due to major damages, literature of children needs a basic review which entails applying a set of measurements. Having a bird's eye view, we have to inspect what literature of children has to put aside the damaging cases. By this, we can identify the criteria of literature of Iranian children. This way, a set of guidelines are provided which the curriculum of elementary schools need to follow. Those guidelines are to be guiding light for all of lesson plans in elementary education of children in Iran. As a result, a modern child of Iran has gotten away from his/her ancient literature and needs to make peace with it.

The present review attempts to understand the role of social class disparities in academic achievement domain. The issue of socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement gap has been observed from different perspectives. In explaining the phenomena of the academic achievement gap, literature from the observers' viewpoint, indicated toward SES and the individual level factors such as home resource and ability. This undermined actor' perspectives and experiences influenced by macro-level facets eventually shape the subjective belief system of the individual. Thus, the present review concludes that, (a) SES as social structure and individual as agency are not separate, but mutually constituted aspects of society and (b) this aspects of society forming one's identity which operates situationally in a domain of ability and achievement, framed in the comparative context of dominant identity binaries.

The instructional power of game-based learning and simulation in a K-12 school in the Tehran, IranMorteza Alibakhshi KenariJanuary-March 2015, 2(1):20-24DOI:10.4103/2395-2555.161418

Psychologists have often emphasized the need to incorporate games into the school curriculum as a way of providing with learners opportunities to develop in all aspects of the curriculum. Accordingly, these games offer learners an avenue to release their mental tension resulting from rigorous academic engagement. Previous studies have also indicated that the learning process can be made more enjoyable for learners, when games are incorporated into the learning process. This study examined the instructional power of game-based learning and simulation in a K-12 setting and sought to provide insight as to whether game-based learning would be an emphatic method that could be used for teaching and learning. Many scholars have argued that game-based learning stirs up a sense of motivation on the side of learners regarding their learning process. Therefore, this study explored the distinct features of game-based learning which learners consider to be interesting/absorbing. The findings of this study showed that the use of game-based learning as an instruction method is very effective in the teaching and learning process. It has the ability to engage and provoke learners' interests. Besides, its experimental nature allows learners to participate fully in the class work. This means that teachers need to design teaching content that incorporates games since the latter provide a practical learning approach which helps learners to memorize most of the content learn. The study also recommends that educators tasked with designing and developing the curriculum should emphasize the importance of instructional methods that allow teachers to incorporate games into the teaching content.

Aim: In today's turbulent world of anxiety, relaxation and comfort is a blessing to all those who desire it. In fact, one of the basic human needs, joy and exhilaration, is to achieve an emotional balance and self and to lead a healthy and vibrant life in society. It brings joy to life and contributes to vitality and mental health and enhancement. A happy man can succeed steep steps over and have a constructive role in society. Research evidence suggests that people tend to have joy in life and satisfaction with life in general as age increases. The present study aims to investigate and compare the effectiveness of Lyubomirsky method in increasing the degree of happiness and life satisfaction among individuals attending Isfahan counseling centers. Materials and Methods: The study is semi-experimental in nature, with control and experimental groups that were given a pre-test and a post-test. The statistical population of the study was 50 individuals who were chosen using a simple random sampling method and put into groups of 25 each. Later, five happiness sessions were held for each experimental group. Data collection was done through three questionnaires, namely demographic information, Oxford and life satisfaction questionnaires. Results: The results of the co-variance analysis indicated that the degree of happiness and life satisfaction seemed to have an increase in experimental groups in comparison to that of control groups.

This report describes development of stuttering with divalproex sodium in a patient of bipolar disorder. The treatment was started with twice a day regime which was well-tolerated and the patient started showing some improvement in symptoms. After a week, as the dosing was switched to three times a day, the patient experienced decreased and labored speech. His articulation altered as were the intensity and timings of utterance. Speech rhythm was also affected. Patient reported that such a problem he never experienced earlier. As he reverted to twice a day regime on advice of the doctor, there was improvement in his speech.